Mar 6-12, 2013

Mar 6-12, 2013 / Vol. 27 / No. 2

Cover Story

CD review: Hectagons!

Hectagons, a band which swarms the listener from all sides with a plethora of instrumental music, chose the perfect name. Formerly a trio, guitarist Wyley Buck Boswell, drummer Ricky Culp and bassist Korey Dudley are now joined by Justin Aswell Blackwood’s samples via Maschine. What could easily become a cacophony on the band’s debut album…

Jeff Hahne

CD review: Brokeback’s Brokeback and the Black Rock

Led by Tortoise bassist extraordinaire Doug McCombs, Chicago post-rock outfit Brokeback has visited Black Rock’s desert-friendly palette before. But the tracks that referenced Ennio Morricone’s classic Spaghetti Western on Brokeback’s previous record, the decade-old Looks at the Bird, contrasted minimalist twang-guitar against bowed and plucked basslines, experimental percussion bits, occasional voice and trumpet parts and…

John Schacht

On the Vine in Ballantyne

Not all comebacks fly. Michael Jordan’s stint with the Wizards and Brett Favre with the Vikings prove this to be true. But we always root for the comeback and redemption: How many tried to get tickets into Time Warner Cable Arena to hear former President Bill Clinton’s speech during the DNC? Real estate, too, tempts…

Tricia Childress

Double feature for Chuck Norris birthday bash

While Academy members were busy congratulating the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis and Ang Lee, the folks behind the Back Alley Film Series were preparing to honor the cinematic legacy of that master thespian Chuck Norris. The martial arts legend turns 73 this month, and BAFS is offering an action-packed double feature in his honor. First…

Matt Brunson

Moving Poets Charlotte relaunches

Do you remember The Moving Poets? The performance art troupe that combined dance, theater, music, visual arts and multi-media for its shows was established in Charlotte in 1996, but drifted away – far, far away to Berlin, Germany – in the late 2000s. Moving Poets Berlin continues to offer performances, concerts and workshops across the…

Anita Overcash

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (March 7)

Dust to Dust: A 45-year-old woman called police after someone kicked her apartment door in and ransacked her place while she was down the street, waiting for the school bus with her daughter. The thief acted fast, getting away with a flat-screen television, a jewelry box, and an urn containing the ashes of one of…

Ryan Pitkin

Flying off to Neverland

It’s a bird, it’s a plane … wait, no, it’s Peter Pan! North Carolina Dance Theatre follows up its Innovative Works, an annual performance comprised of a series of short choreographies, with the soaring ballet – complete with two track systems and two pendulums for full flying effects – that sinks its hooks in familiarity.…

Anita Overcash

Theater review: How We Got On

Mason “Quill” Parker isn’t merely rapping up a storm in Children’s Theatre of Charlotte’s The Red Badge of Courage – or Henry Fleming’s inner voice, to be more precise – he’s also featured as Julian, alias Vic Vicious, in the current Carolina Actors Studio Theatre production of How We Got On. So last Saturday, I…

Perry Tannenbaum

Oz the Great and Powerful: Toto recall

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL *1/2 DIRECTED BY Sam Raimi STARS James Franco, Mila Kunis In the immortal 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow sings “If I Only Had a Brain” (“My head I’d be scratchin’, While my thoughts were busy hatchin'”), the Tin Man croons “If I Only Had a Heart” (“I’d…

Matt Brunson

Jack the Giant Slayer comes up short

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER**1/2DIRECTED BY Bryan SingerSTARS Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor On the surface, Jack the Giant Slayer would appear to be made from the same cloth as Oz the Great and Powerful (reviewed here) — that is to say, it’s an expensive CGI spectacle directed by a highly regarded helmer of superhero flicks (in…

Matt Brunson

NYC Theater Roundup: Broadway and Off-Broadway

Thanks to the wonders of Groupons and public transportation, I was able to see all the shows I’d promised to cover when I leaked my Picnic review three weeks ago — despite the great blizzard of 2013. Unless otherwise indicated, the shows we saw are still running. I’ll catch you up on the Metropolitan Opera…

Perry Tannenbaum

New UNC Charlotte exhibits

Multi-media sculptor and installation artist Jason Lee’s Structured Environments exhibit takes his fascination for compartmentalized landscapes to another level. Viewers may feel he’s put a psychedelic spin on the idea of a bird’s eye view. His works utilize custom fabricated light boxes, extruded foam fences and plastic ducks as visualizations of “ideal” landscapes. Lee, an…

Anita Overcash

Don’t be an American Idiot

Broadway and rock ‘n’ roll don’t always mix, but productions like Rock of Ages, in 2009 (which featured the music of Journey, Whitesnake, Styx and Bon Jovi) and American Idiot, the following year – featuring music from Green Day’s album of the same title – are shaking things up a bit. But don’t take my…

Anita Overcash

Time is on their side

Time: clocks ticking in perfect rhythm, continually, for eternity. Time: concrete and predictable. These are the easy definitions of the word. The more challenging school of thought is on display at the McColl Center in All the Time in the World, an exhibit featuring art by Gail Wight and Mary Tsiongas. The show funnels the…

Grace Cote

Can Delta Rae handle the truth?

Delta Rae is a lie. Sure, the Durham outfit’s lightweight folk-pop is accessible — enough so to garner a deal from major label Warner Brothers’ subsidiary Sire Records. The company released the band’s 2012 effort, Carry the Fire, only three years into the band’s young career. But Delta Rae postures as though its merger of…

Jordan Lawrence

Hip-hop goes to war in The Red Badge of Courage

With music by Reemycks and hip-hop lyrics by David McCullough, the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte production of The Red Badge of Courage is as up-to-date and contemporary as it possibly could be without incorporating “The Harlem Shake” or a projected Twitter feed. Over at ImaginOn, you’ll be confronted by a fascinating hybrid. Scenic designer Jeffrey…

Perry Tannenbaum

Weekly horoscope: (March 7-13)

Pisces The Fish (Feb. 18-March 19): All six planets in your sun sign suggest that you may be overflowing with people and things in your life. Even the New Moon is in your sign on the 11th, suggesting a new creative idea is just beginning to emerge. Make time for introversion to keep your balance.…

Vivian Carol

Technology aids Planning Department in third of fifth zoning ordinance meeting

The Charlotte Planning Department utilized group polling technology for the first time during the third of five planned Citizen Advisory Group meetings, held Tuesday night. It was another step in a lengthy process meant to revise zoning ordinances for restaurants and nightclubs. Department staffers distributed remote key pads to about 35 business owners, concerned citizens…

Ryan Pitkin

A field trip to The Range

When I arrived at The Range, a female-owned firearms shooting facility in Lake Norman, I couldn’t have felt more uncomfortable. I was there to meet up with several female CL staffers. They were there to shoot guns and write about the experience for this week’s cover story. The exterior of the facility is earthy adobe…

Mark Kemp

Recent

See all

Gift this article